Doggone

S01E21

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A plan has been formulated by Emanda to track down the villainous White-Haired Man who killed her father. Through her surveillance of Conrad's office at Grayson Global, she deduces there are some tensions between the two men. Emanda records video of her and Daniel sleeping (actual sleeping) together and sends it to Conrad, effectively framing WHM for making a threat on the heir to the Grayson Empire. Conrad arranges to meet WHM to settle their score, which means Emanda can now locate and track the object of her revenge.

That's great except the time of their meeting coincides with an important wedding planning thing between her, Daniel and Ashley. Dan's already lost his patience with Ems disappearing and keeping secrets, so she sticks around and relies on Nolan to do recon work. It really doesn't make any difference at all because Ems stays glued to her phone the whole time and pisses off Daniel anyway. Once the meeting's over, she heads for WHM's house, but it turns out Nolan gave her the wrong address to protect her from becoming a murderer. Instead, Nolan gains entrance to WHM's house by disguising himself as a cable repair guy. He sets up surveillance under WHM's careful watch, and gets out without a hitch... except for arousing a tiny bit of suspicion when WHM asks for some identification, which Nolan can't provide. Oh, Nolan... you so crazy.

Emanda gets a little bit distracted because Sammy the Ageless Dog is dying. I know, right? While Jack is all-consumed with finding his dog (and never thinks to look at Casa Emily where his dog always goes), Emanda finds her former puppy barely alive on her porch. She calls Jack over so they can be with Sammy during his final moments. Emanda kisses Jack (!), probably figuring she can blame the emotion of the moment later. That might fly if Emanda wants to distance herself from Jack, but it won't solve the fact Ashley spies their make-out session... even though there's no real reason for her to have been outside Casa Emily in the first place. Whatever.

In Grayson World, Conrad has escaped the S.E.C.'s scrutiny because they turned up no evidence at Grayson Global's corporate office. He and Lydia are really shacked up now, so Victoria semi-uses her former best friend to get in and steal Conrad's stash of evidence from his penthouse. It turns out the evidence is really collateral evidence versus WHM, but it's all the same to Victoria... until Conrad turns Daniel against her. She relinquishes the stash of evidence. All of this sort of comes out in a family therapy session to help Charlotte. She decides she's done with her family. She seeks solace with Declan. About that...

Declan has made a new female friend at school. She's just moved to the Hamptons from Yonkers, and is obviously on a mission to be a strong, good-hearted girl -- pretty much everything Charlotte isn't. Declan maybe might possibly sort of be interested in this girl, but he is still friend-zoning her even when he bring her back to his place so she can change her wet clothes after a search for Sammy in the snow. Declan has the bad luck of Charlie showing up at his place just as Yonkers Girl emerges from the bathroom, wearing one of Dec's shirts. Oh well.

Nolan feels pretty good about himself for getting in close and fooling a known murderer. That is until he realizes WHM has covered his tracks while reverse tracking Nolan back to his Fortress of Solitude. Is it a fatal mistake for Nolan? Is this the end of our charmingly awkward hero? The last we see of Nolan is his unconscious body after WHM catches him in a sleeper hold. Tune in time to find out if Nolan is no more.

-- Pablo G. is some guy who lives in Austin, Texas. He co-hosts TWoP's original "Trailers Without Pity" with his brother Omar G. Check him out at The YES and NO and Pablog and follow him @PendejoJoe on Twitter.

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A shovel digs in sand at night. We see that it's Emanda digging a grave outside Casa Emily. Emanda voice-over: "They say grief occurs in five stages. First there's denial, followed by anger." Tears begin to stream down Emanda's face. She completely breaks down. "Then comes bargaining and depression." The camera tilts upward into the blackness of the night.

36 hours earlier. Light morning snow falls outside Casa Emily. Inside, Emanda watches an old video on her laptop of her father in which he asks Mason Treadwell to relay a copy of their interview to his daughter. He wanted her to know he didn't have all bad days in jail. Emanda stops the video and pulls out the last photo of her father in prison. Ems voice-over continued: "For most, the final stage of grief is acceptance, but for me grief is a life sentence without clemency." Emanda folds the photo so that only the White-Haired Man can be seen. VO: "I will never accept and I will never forgive. Not even when the man who killed my father lies dead at my feet." She returns to her laptop to switch to video surveillance of Conrad's office at Grayson Global.

Conrad and Daniel sit across from each other at the elder Grayson's desk. The S.E.C. canceled their meeting with Conrad because they found no evidence, he figures. They'll dig deeper though, and in the meantime Conrad advises his son to keep up appearances in the media to spin the PR. He wants Daniel to work with Ashley to parlay the upcoming wedding into good publicity and a vehicle for getting the business back in the right direction. Somewhere, Kris Humphries feels an unexplained chill. Part of keeping this well-oiled machine of media relations awesomeness going will also involve tying up loose ends from Daniel's trial -- namely, Jack Porter. Dan says he's already got a plan for that. Before he can leave, Dan's father stops him to give thanks for being loyal. Daniel reminds him that he expects in exchange full transparency from here on out.

Emanda watches the end of this conversation when her phone rings. Nolan has been watching all of this from his iPad, too. He asks annoying questions as if he's that friend who always calls to ask if you're seeing what's happening on Mad Men since, you know, you're watching Mad Men. Just then, another man's voice begins speaking on Emanda's laptop. It's the White-Haired Man (24's James Morrison). Ems shushes Nolan. WHM speaks cryptically about his employers not being pleased with Conrad, describing him as a "bad asset." Conrad's word is no longer sufficient for "the initiative." I don't know what any of this meaaaaaans. WHM walks over to a framed photo of Daniel and Emanda and picks it up to admire it. We see from Emanda's end that the spy camera must be embedded in the frame. Nolan points out the obvious that they're looking into the face of the evil that murdered Emanda's father. He asks Ems what she's going to do. Her plan it to make sure WHM has a reason to meet with Conrad again. Then she'll track him. "And then?" Nolan asks. Emanda: "You already know the answer to that." Pizza party? Please say pizza party.

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Casa Emily. Daniel sits in bed while Emanda puts on some running gear. He asks about some headache she had last night. Very suddenly, Emanda's attitude toward Daniel has drastically changed. She's very catty as she brings up the fact their wedding is now being turned into a big public spectacle to help Grayson Global. To his credit, Daniel is still very calm and sweet in the face of this unusual hostility. All he asks is that Emanda free up five minutes to meet up with him and Ashley today to talk over her ideas for the wedding. Dan tells his fiancée he loves her and heads off for a shower. Ems walks over to a nearby bookcase to grab a book. The inside is cut out and houses a small video camera. She pulls out the memory card and replaces the camera in the book. We see as she puts the book back on the shelf that a small hole has been cut into the spine for the camera lens to peek out.

Victoria reads over her immunity agreement contract from the S.E.C. in the study at Grayson Global. Charlotte enters to let her know her therapist has arrived and they'd like to use the study for their session. Victoria hides away the contract in her safe while Charlotte notes that it's funny how Daniel's free and now it's like she's under house arrest. Not funny "ha-ha" -- funny "pill pop." She has no school, no friends, no father and no greasy boyfriend. Victoria tries to help a little by revealing she's arranged for Charlotte to be reinstated at school week and that Declan shouldn't be on her mind, since his lies are part of the reason she's depressed. Charlotte points out that her mother's lies and continued feud with Conrad haven't helped either. A family therapy session with Dr. Clemons has been suggested. Victoria says they'll talk about it later.

That's because she has a meeting with Mr. McGowan from the S.E.C. Victoria sits in her parked car until McGowan pulls up alongside it. He hops into the passenger seat. Victoria demands to know why Conrad isn't already in prison. It's because they found no physical evidence at Grayson Global's corporate office to support her claim. That's not good enough for the queen. Victoria declares she's more than capable and determined than they are to find the evidence she knows her husband stashed away.

Stowaway. Jack is already vehemently rejecting a check Daniel holds in his hand, obviously trying to buy Jack's cooperation. He wants no part of the Graysons' blood money. Daniel knows enough about Jack to come up with a great selling point. Think of all the good Jack can do with that money. He can go to Haiti like he planned, support the bar or go after Amily. Before he leaves, Daniel puts the check down on a table and asks Jack to think again about his offer. During all of this, Jack is attending to Sammy, who lies listless on the floor. He's not drinking or eating. Shit, I'm sorry for calling him a time-traveling dog. I'm sorry!

Victoria arrives at Conrad's penthouse. Out in the foyer she notices Dominik's fake de Kooning painting. She compliments Conrad on his taste and how he looks. Conrad, as Victoria removes her coat to reveal her dress, replies: "And you look like a demonic succubus." He accuses her of sending the S.E.C. after him, but Victoria denies it. She explains she's there because Charlotte's doctor has requested family therapy. Conrad says he wouldn't miss that for the world as he pours two drinks. When Victoria reaches for one, Conrad coolly says it's not for her. Cue Lydia in a robe and slippers. She asks Conrad with an air of superiority what Victoria's doing there. He excludes Victoria in conversation and ventures to guess she's using their children in some sort of plot. Conrad turns to Victoria and tells her to leave. He and Lydia smugly sip from their tumblers in unison.

Declan comes back to the Stowaway with a curly-haired girl from school. She comes off sarcastic and adventurous while Declan simply wants to wallow in the economics project they've been assigned together. After a few failed attempts at lifting Dec's spirits, the girl -- who says she's from Yonkers -- gives up and agrees to sit to do homework. Declan stares at her curiously.

Fortress of Solitude. Emanda and Nolan sit together on his couch, staring at his laptop. They're encrypting a video of Emanda and Daniel in bed together. Naturally, this makes Nolan a bit uncomfortable. Nolan: "This is getting kinkier and creepier by the minute." Don't talk to us about kinky, Nolan. He asks what this is for. Ems wants Nolan to anonymously email the video to Conrad. He'll view it as a threat against his sole heir from WHM. "You may be a lot of things -- black belt in karate, impeccable dresser and certified sociopath, but you're not a killer," Nolan points out. What if WHM kills her first? It's a risk Ems is willing to take. She orders Nolan to send the video.

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Establishing shot of a snowy Central Park. Lydia arrives home at Conrad's pad carrying shopping bags and on the phone with him. They muse at the thought of a designer offering to make a wedding dress for Lydia since the designer somehow got the impression they might be headed for the altar. Conrad awkwardly suggests it's not a bad idea as his computer chimes with an email. The spy video of Ems and Dan in bed comes up on his screen. Immediately, he tells Lydia he has to call her back. Meanwhile, Emanda watches Conrad's reaction on her own laptop. He reaches for his phone and dials WHM. Conrad doesn't let him speak more than a greeting before rattling off an address for them to meet to settle things lest Conrad unleash his own contingency plan. Ems scribbles down the address, tears the paper from her notepad and gathers her things to head to the spot. Just as she grabs her coat, Ashley and Daniel come through the front door. As if wedding planning isn't hell enough, now it's encroaching on murder. Ems falls back on her go-to excuse: the landmark committee. She's got a meeting she has to get to, she says. That might normally work, but no landmark committee takes precedent over fairly solid plans that involve a wedding. Daniel stares down Emanda, asserting this. She's stuck.

Close-up on the check Daniel gave Jack. It's for a million dollars. Even Nolan gets the vapors looking at it. He knows the Graysons aren't messing around. Jack says he's thinking about keeping the money and using it to set up a charity... maybe share the charity with Emanda. Nolan is onboard for Jack cashing it because he thinks that if Jack doesn't, the Graysons might go to greater lengths to get his silence. Nolan's phone rings and he excuses himself to take a call from Emanda. She's a frantic mess. If Nolan really wants to prove his dedication to David Clarke, now's his chance. Emanda brings him up to speed that she's stuck at home with Daniel and they need to track WHM at his meeting with Conrad. Just as Ems finishes explaining this to Nolan, Daniel comes into the bedroom, demanding to know what's going on. Ems ends the phone call by pretending to give an excuse for missing the landmark meeting and giving the address Conrad gave WHM. She hangs up and walks out of the room past Daniel.

Lydia sits reading Wedding Magazine on Conrad's couch when Victoria suddenly enters from the elevator. She notes Lydia's probably getting a little ahead of herself, then snatches Lydia's phone before she can call Conrad for help. Overly friendly, Victoria asks what happened to their BFF status. Lydia: "You held me hostage at Grayson Manor and had your attack dog throw me off the roof of my own apartment." Yes, but if you guys were really BFF you'd be able to laugh about that stuff by now. Victoria explains that the government is building a case against Conrad and she has immunity, which she can extend to Lydia if they'll work together. Lydia steps aside as Victoria walks over to the de Kooning. It's odd that Conrad would keep something around that he knows has no value (other than Lydia), Victoria says. She grabs a nearby knife, cuts open the painting and discovers a stash of tape recordings and cash.

Conrad waits in a diner for WHM. Across the street, Nolan is parked, staking out the entrance when WHM enters. At Casa Emily, Ashley's presentation of wedding ideas is well underway, but it keeps getting interrupted by Emanda's phone going off with unimportant texts from Nolan like, "He's here" and "They're sitting down." This is just shoddy work by Emanda. Daniel and Ashley are nearing their limit of patience with Ems staring at her phone intently. Back at the diner, WHM takes his seat across from Conrad. He asks about this contingency plan Conrad mentioned. It turns out that the evidence Victoria stumbled upon is a full history of all of Conrad's meetings and correspondence with WHM. Conrad threatens WHM and his employers with exposure if he ever threatens the Graysons again. WHM gets up and leaves. As he steps outside, Nolan snaps photos of him. When Emanda receives them on her phone, Dan snaps, snatches her phone and demands to know what's so important that she can't spare five minutes to plan their wedding. Ems snatches her phone back before Dan can see anything and falls back on not wanting to be party to any of this anyway. Daniel's done. He storms off and Ashley refuses an apology from Emanda. Screw those wedding-loving jerks anyway. Emanda thinks about it for all of a minute before she remembers she's got more important shit to do.

Jack enters the Stowaway out from the cold, completely full of fright. He can't find Sammy anywhere. He asks Dec every question he can think of. Did he let Sammy out in the cold and forget? Dec says he didn't and he's been having a hard time getting Sammy to go out the last few days anyway. Oh... no. Jack says he's going to go look for him and he's out the door. Having seen his brother's heart breaking, Dec turns to Yonkers looking like a lost child. Without him having to say a word, she tells Dec they can screw this presentation; they're going to go look for Sammy. This girl is down. Like... down down.

Nolan sits out in his van in the suburbs and watches WHM drive by. Ems is at Casa Emily talking to Nolan on the phone while she gets geared up for murder. She tucks a gun into her waistband and straps a knife to her ankle while Nolan tries to embody her conscience. Does she really want to turn this corner and become a killer? All Emanda wants is the address. Nolan looks conflicted for a moment while he contemplates enabling murder. Emanda's phone goes off with a text that reads "181 Auburn Road."

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In the home of WHM, he's on the phone with his employers, saying he's working on the Grayson situation. All he has to do is find out who's threatening Conrad's family. The lights begin to flicker. Outside the house at 181 Auburn Road, Ems slowly creeps up to the porch in all black. She unscrews the porch's light bulb before ringing the doorbell. WHM checks through his blinds, walks over to a drawer and pulls out a gun. He answers the door, and... it's Nolan... disguised as a cable guy. He's got a fake mustache, a knit cap, a nametag that says "Burt" and a fake drawl. Nolan says there's been cable outages all over the neighborhood (didn't WHM notice his lights flickering?). WHM invites him in. Meanwhile, Nolan's aunt Carole appears behind Emanda at the wrong house to inform her that Nolan wasn't going to let her make this mistake. She gives Ems a speech about this not being what David wanted for her, but Ems fires back that there's a time and a place for kindness and it's not now.

Nolan works on WHM's cable box under high scrutiny. He cracks a joke about the cable box showing official U.S. time because WHM's house is filled with clocks, like... in a really unnerving way. Dude really loves the clock. Nolan apologizes for any inconvenience the outage might've caused and tries to hightail it out of there, but WHM steps in his path to ask for a business card. He does so in addition to really invading Nolan's personal space bubble. This guy's for real. Nolan completely loses his cool even as he presents a pretty good excuse for not having identification (paperless/green company). Nolan leaves, but he has most certainly aroused suspicion.

Conrad comes home to find Lydia sitting on the couch on the verge of tears. She says she came home to find Victoria on a rampage, tearing up the de Kooning. Lydia goes as far as to claim she tried to stop Lydia, but Conrad has already seen the evidence is missing and he's no longer listening. Victoria left a little card where the evidence stash had been. "Once a fraud, always a fraud. -- Victoria" Conrad leaves Lydia without saying a word.

Emanda arrives home while on the phone with Nolan. She's livid that he betrayed her plan. He figures he did her a favor since now she can gather info on WHM. Their bickering stops when Ems sees Sammy on her porch. He's lying on his side, weak and whimpering. Emanda hangs up with Nolan and dials Jack. He gets the call while he's driving around in his truck. Emanda tells him that Sammy is there. "I can't believe I didn't think to look there," Jack laments. Yeah, for real. Emanda: "Jack, I think you better hurry." She hangs up and goes back to consoling her puppy.

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Night at Grayson Manor. It's family therapy time. Conrad enters late in the middle of a game of "I like, but I need." He hops right in, asserting his pride in Daniel assuming his mantel and Charlotte approaching her drug problem head-on. Conrad turns his attention to Victoria and pays her backhanded compliments about liking her sense of self-preservation and the way she challenged him throughout their marriage. What he needs is what she's stolen from him. Victoria smugly responds that she likes that Conrad suspects her, but she needs him to know that Lydia probably betrayed him as well. Charlotte's had enough. She decides her family's all hopeless and the only way out is to leave. Naturally, Victoria blames Conrad's display for Charlotte's setback.

And now let's cry together, guys. Ems and Jack sit alongside Sammy by the fireplace at Casa Emily. They both have wet eyes. It's exactly where Sammy wants to be, Ems notes. He's home. Jack says every day has been a gift and he was starting to think Sammy would live forever. He breaks down, not knowing if he has it in him to say goodbye to his best friend. Jack: "Sammy, thank you for being such a good friend, such a good listener. And thank you for making me smile every day, even on the worst of them. Thank you for teaching me about loyalty and friendship... Thank you for teaching me how to love." Jack clutches his dog and buries his face into him. "Oh, Sammy, thank you, thank you, thank you." Guys, I have about fifty things in my eye right now. Emanda looks on vicariously as her soulmate comforts her dog she never actually got to own. FLASHBACK: Little Amanda, Jack and David all play with Sammy on the beach. /FLASHBACK. Emanda takes Jack's hand in hers as the life leaves Sammy.

Dec arrives home with Yonkers. Her clothes are all wet from being splashed by a truck, so Declan hands her some dry clothes and says she can change in the restroom where there are towels. She stops to suggest he look for some pictures of Sammy so they can put them on the poster boards they were going to use for their project. This girl is sharp. While Dec looks at a photo of himself, Jack and Sammy, a tearful Charlotte appears. She declares all of her family members are awful, apologizes for pulling Declan's tuition and asks if she can spend the night. Cue Yonkers coming out of the restroom wearing nothing but Dec's T-shirt. Charlotte instantly makes a comment about Yonkers being trashy. She fires back at Charlie that at least she's not a walking tabloid. "Everyone has things in their past they don't want people to know about. Right, Declan?" Charlotte says before walking out.

At Grayson Manor, Dan approaches his mom to ask if her hatred for Conrad is more important than her children. Victoria thinks Dan would do well to remember his father is guilty of horrible things. As for her own involvement, there are multiple sides to every story. Dan tells her if she goes through with destroying Conrad, she's dead to him. Victoria's eye twitches.

Back at Casa Emily, Jack pulls a blanket over Sammy. He breaks down into sobs and convulsions again, so Ems takes him in an embrace. When both of them have calmed a bit, they look into each other's eyes and kiss. Ashley spies this make-out session through the window and walks away. What?! Where's Dan? Why isn't Daniel the one discovering this and going on a jealous rampage? What the hell is Ashley even doing there? Ugh.

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Jack and Emanda dig Sammy's grave. When the hole's finished, they both stare at it blankly. Stoically, Jack says he'll go in and get Sammy. He thanks Emanda for being there and wonders about the fact Sammy always seemed to be leading Jack to her. He takes Ems' face in his hands and asks what they're going to do now. She looks like a deer in headlights when she says she doesn't know. Jack nods knowingly and heads inside to get his best friend's body. Emanda decides to dig some more... literally.

Charlotte waits by herself on a street corner. Oh no. A car pulls up. Oh... no. She tells the guy inside he's late. OH NO! She hands him cash... wait, that's not how -- oh, okay, the guy's handing Charlotte a bag of coke. That's not so bad.

Victoria enters Dan's office at Grayson Manor holding the evidence she stole from Conrad. She offers it and apologizes. Victoria says what Daniel chooses to do with it is up to him. Ems is listening in on all of this. When Victoria walks out, Daniel calls Conrad to tell him his mom buckled and they now have the evidence. Conrad commends his son and tells him to bring it with him in the morning. Victoria is right outside the door eavesdropping on this call. She walks away upset. Emanda's not too pleased with what she's heard either.

Jack comes home to his brother who's already a bit of a mess over his ordeal with Charlotte. Jack tells Dec Sammy's gone. He takes a seat to his brother on the couch, puts his arm around him and they cry together.

Emanda has pulled out the infinity x infinity box. Her phone rings with a call from Nolan. She says she was just about to call him -- not to yell at him, but to thank him for helping her see the light at the end of the tunnel. Ems looks at a photo of her and Jack as kids with Sammy while Nolan tells her he's proud of himself for everything he had to do to infiltrate WHM's lair. Emanda says she's proud of him, too, but she has to go because there's a knock at the door. Emanda voice-over: "They say grief occurs in five stages. First there's denial, followed by anger." It's Daniel at the door. Ems apologizes to him for the wedding meeting. VO continued: "Then comes bargaining, depression and acceptance." She asks Daniel if they can just go to bed. Daniel sets down his briefcase which contains the evidence he just received from his mother and Emanda can't keep from looking at it as they head upstairs together. VO: "But grief is a merciless master. Just when you think you're free, you realize you never stood a chance.

Fortress of Solitude. Nolan watches surveillance of WHM. He's tinkering with one of his many clocks. Nothing strange about that. The clock reads 8:20, Nolan notices, which isn't right at all unless WHM somehow delayed the feed and... OH SHIT! WHM's arm suddenly wraps around Nolan's neck in a chokehold. Nolan goes unconscious and WHM stands over his body triumphantly. Say it ain't so, Nolan. Say it ain't so.

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